COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Banowsky steps down as Conference USA Commissioner

Release from Conference USA

Published 8:08 am, Thursday, July 16, 2015

IRVING, Texas -

Conference USA Commissioner

Britton Banowsky announced today he will be stepping down from the position he has held nearly 13 years to serve as the Executive Director of the College Football Playoff Foundation and further his work with a number of other nonprofit organizations.

“My time with Conference USA has been an experience of a lifetime,” Banowsky said. “It has been an honor to serve these member institutions and this great conference, which is very well positioned for the future. The landscape has settled and these universities are all on the rise. They work very well together and the

conference has tremendous leadership on each campus and within the conference office.”

Banowsky will stay with the Conference until it completes the process to identify his successor. It is anticipated that the Board of Directors will conduct a special meeting to discuss the matter in September and at its regular meeting scheduled Oct. 25-26.

“We all appreciate Britton’s strong and steady leadership during a period of unprecedented change in intercollegiate athletics,” said UTEP President

Dr. Diana Natalicio, who just completed her term as Chair of the C-USA Board of Directors. “Britton maintained a truly remarkable balance between tactical agility and a deep understanding of the big-picture issues that confront in

tercollegiate athletics today. His leadership of C-USA and the talented team he built has positioned us well for a successful future.”

“As incoming Chair, unfortunately I will not get the chance to work directly with Britton, but respect his passion and commitment for fulfilling his next life ambi

tion with the Foundation,” said Old Dominion President John R. Broderick. “Britton's leadership has been outstanding on both the conference and national level, and I am confident C-USA will soon identify that next great leader in intercollegiate athletics who will guide us.”

Banowsky became the second Commissioner of Conference USA on Oct. 28, 2002, replacing Mike Slive, the league’s Commissioner since its 1995 inception.

Banowsky arrived in that role during a dynamic time in intercollegiate athletics. With schools changing conference membership, Banowsky led C-USA through

its first transitional period and orchestrated a restructured Conference USA that began competition in August 2005.Following another nationwide transition, the league welc

omed eight new members on July 1, 2013 - Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion and UTSA. Charlotte, a charter member along with Southern Miss and UAB, joined Marshall, Rice and UTEP at that time. WKU rounded out the current 14-school membership when it officially joined the conference on July 1, 2014. Despite change, Conference USA has always maintained a solid foundation and a strong identity and reinforced its position in collegiate athletics under his progressive leadership.